Egenkapitalen er høy.

It marks the noun as definite.

So egenkapitalen means the equity rather than just equity in a general sense. Norwegian often shows definiteness by adding an ending to the noun instead of using a separate word like the.

A simple comparison:

• bil = car
• bilen = the car

The same pattern is happening in egenkapitalen.

Because Norwegian normally writes compound nouns as one word.

Here, egenkapital is made from:

• egen = own
• kapital = capital

Together they form the financial term egenkapital.

This is very common in Norwegian. English often uses separate words where Norwegian prefers one compound word.

Grammatically, it takes en:

• en egenkapital
• egenkapitalen

So for learning purposes, treat it as a noun that uses en in the indefinite singular and -en in the definite singular.

Er is the present tense of å være, which means to be.

So:

• å være = to be
• er = is / are

In this sentence, er links the subject egenkapitalen to the description høy.

Because høy is the form used here for a singular common-gender subject in a predicate position.

After er, adjectives usually agree with the subject like this:

• common gender singular: høy
• neuter singular: høyt
• plural: høye

Examples:

• Egenkapitalen er høy.
• Nivået er høyt.
• Prisene er høye.

So høy is the correct form with egenkapitalen.

Because Egenkapitalen er høy is a full sentence, while den høye egenkapitalen is only a noun phrase.

Compare:

• Egenkapitalen er høy. = full sentence
• den høye egenkapitalen = the high equity

In other words:

• er høy describes the subject
• den høye egenkapitalen names something, but does not by itself make a complete statement

Yes. Very naturally.

In Norwegian, høy is often used for:

• prices
• levels
• percentages
• salaries
• costs
• financial amounts

So this use is completely normal:

• høy pris = high price
• høy lønn = high salary
• høy egenkapital = high equity

It does not have to refer to something physically tall.

This sentence has the basic, very common order:

• subject
  • verb
    • description/complement

So:

• Egenkapitalen = subject
• er = verb
• høy = predicate adjective

For an English speaker, this sentence looks quite familiar.

The main thing to remember is that Norwegian is generally a verb-second language in main clauses. In this simple sentence, that rule is satisfied automatically because the subject comes first.

Yes, it often would.

A common Nynorsk version is:

• Eigenkapitalen er høg.

The differences are:

• eigenkapitalen instead of egenkapitalen
• høg instead of høy

So the original sentence is clearly Bokmål.

A rough guide for an English speaker:

• egenkapitalen ≈ AY-gen-kah-pi-tah-len
• høy ≈ hoy, similar to the sound in ahoy, but with a more rounded vowel

A few notes:

• Norwegian pronunciation varies by dialect.
• The vowel in høy does not match English perfectly.
• The g in egenkapitalen is pronounced.

So these are only approximations, but they are good enough to get started.